Power supply system for a repetitively pulsed flashlamp-pumped dye-laser

A repetitively pulsed flashlamp-pumped dyelaser system has been designed, built and tested. Only one power supply system is required for the operation of two linear flashlamps connected in series. The flashlamps are ignited by a voltage pulse of 20 kV. They are operated in a special simmer mode. A low simmercurrent of about 100 mA is followed by a prepulse of some amperes, which prepares the main pulse. Ignition pulse, simmer-current, and prepulse are supplied by a semiconductor power- supply developped for this application. The pulsed discharge circuit has a low inductance design in order to get steep and high current pulses. The electrical energy delivered to the flashlamps is 60 J per pulse with a maximum power of 80 MW. Constant laser pulse energy at 30 Hz repetition rate is ensured by an efficient pump- and cooling-system. Initial measurements show a strong dependence of the laser pulse energy on the simmer pre-current.